Dear Joseph,

The fellow that says that the forth state doesn’t exist is right. The Mandukya Upanishad which is the source of the three state teaching does not mention a forth ‘state.’ It unfolds the waking, dream and deep sleep and it calls the Self, awareness, which is present in all three (unlike the waker, dreamer, and deep sleeper), the ‘forth.’ Not the forth state. The whole teaching is called the avastha traya, the three state analysis. If the Upanishad were talking about a forth state the teaching would be called the four state analysis. The purpose of the word ‘forth’ is just to indicate the invariable awareness illumining the three states. There are only three states because there are only three bodies; the gross, subtle, and causal. The states are the result of the Self, awareness, shining through the waker dreamer and sleeper, which are subtle vrittis, thoughts. Awareness is not a ‘state’. States change and are unconscious. The Self is conscious and unchanging. It is important to know this because if you think of the Self as a forth or transcendental state and posit it as something other than waking reality, you turn enlightenment into an experience. And when you do that you require certain techniques to reach it. But enlightenment is the nature of the Self and since you are the Self you cannot ‘reach’ it. If you try to do something to reach you, you will only end up frustrated.

Love,

Ram